QuadrigaCX, Canada’s leading cryptocurrency exchange company, has said it cannot repay $190m to clients because its founder died with their passwords.

Founder Gerald Cotten, 30, died “due to complications with Crohn’s disease” in December, 2018, his wife, Jennifer Robertson, said.

Mr Cotten held “sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins” and no other members of the team could access the stored funds, Jennifer said in a sworn affidavit as she filed for credit protection on 31 January, 2019.

Ms Robertson said about $190m in both cryptocurrency and normal money is in “cold storage” – where the company, or just Mr Cotten in this case, holds the key, not the client.

The founder held “sole responsibility for handling the funds and coins” and no other members of the team could access the stored funds, she added.